Day 37 Saturday, June 24th Continued...& up to & thr most of Day 41, Wednesday, June 28th

Well at the moment it is 4 days later. It is Wednesday, June 28th, 7:55 p.m. and I am seated at Camp McDonald's in Newton, KS. Batteries are being charged and I have 20 miles to go till I reach the Coratel Inn & Suites in Park City - Wichita North. The morning of Saturday Day 37, June 24th I left off that I was going to call the motel for a reservation for Saturday night. I found a small town with a small motel that could not be reserved with any of the hotel/motel finder websites such as Expedia, Hotel.com, Priceline, etc. When I did the search for a motel on one of these sites I got the message: "Call Motel". So I did (the Lamont Hill Motel in Vassar, KS) and a young woman answered who put me in touch with a woman closer to my age bracket in charge. She was very helpful and agreed to take my reservation without a credit card. I ended up calling again before they closed about 10 p.m. to let them know I'd be there shortly - before 10 p.m. I arrived in time and was assigned room #1.

By the way, the route I took from Paola,KS was via the Flint Hills Nature Trail. It was flat and fast on packed dirt, sand and gravel. I stopped at McDonald's in Ottawa, KS and then the final leg of the day's travel was to arrive at the Lamont Hill Motel.

All rooms were on the ground floor and I was delighted I would not have to lug the bike and all up a flight of steps. Some nights when I arrive I am too tired to pug in all devices for charging. I fall asleep and wake up sometimes as late as 5 or 6 in the morning. Just enough with new found energy to unpack and wire everything up for charging. Check-out is almost always 11 a.m. so I had a good 5 to 6 hours of charging time. More than enough for the Trek range extender 500 watt batteries, but not quite enough time for the 330 watt Grecell PowerStation mounted on the rear rack.

Here I digress a bit about McDonald's and will come back to my stay at the Lamont Hill Motel. As mentioned before the PowerStation allows me to apply a full charge to 1 Trek 500 watt battery. This is usually done with the main Trek battery built into the bike. In turn, I bring 2 portable Trek range extender batteries into McDonald's and charge those inside McDonald's. McDonald's is the best when it comes to having access to 110 volt outlets inside the store - it seems every table has an outlet. I pick a table that is inconspicuously located - cover what I can with plastic bags and place orders for sundaes, cokes and coffee, and "food" while I wait for the batteries to charge. I'm amazed what a regular McDonald's customer I have become. I don't order at the counter. No one seems to do that now. Everyone uses a kiosk or the McDonald's app on their phone. If there's something else not pressing I try to catch up on the blog. I love McDonald's! No one is bothered by me sitting there for 2 to 3 hours and hanging out. I keep my bike in view and can keep an eye on it through one of the big store windows and don't have to lock up the bike. Sometime a bunch of kids pull up with their bicycles and while mine does stick out, somehow is not as noticeable. Once it was a McDonald's manager (or maybe he was an owner) approached me and apologetically ask me to move my bike off the sidewalk. He was worried someone would walk into it. He helped me move the bike up a steep dirt and peatmoss mound and lean it up against the store. I thought it was more of a risk bike could roll down the mound and cause an injury to me, but it made him happy and nothing was said about me charging my batteries so I went along with whatever worked.

Back to my night stay and following morning at the Lamont Hill Motel... In thinking about it I may have plugged everything in about 3:30 in the morning. It was after I stepped outside very quietly not to disturb the family next door in room number 2. While outside the night sky was black in the easterly direction. To the west there was an RV section to the motel where there were some bright lights. When I looked up the stars jumped out bright as could be. It brought me back to 42 years ago, especially when I rode through Arizona and New Mexico. The stars highlighted the depth of the galaxy. The singular focus of the road remained however now I was not alone. I had the universe for company. The all knowing kind. As if to say: "What are your concerns?" "Afterall, there is so much more here than you and earth." O.k., noted, and it is so beautiful. The Universe was my companion and the night's ride became one present moment centered on energy, movement and travel until I became tired and camped for the night. That was then, back to the Lamont Hill Motel outside of room # 1... I took in the view. Loved it. And thought, "I'm going back to the desert to see the night sky and more, and, oh yes, there were many good nights in the mid-west and south-west, and they are about to happen again!"

I went back to my room and slept (sort of recall tending to the bike beforehand).

When I woke in the morning (now Sunday Day 38, June 25th), I recalled the motel manager mentioned upon check-in, breakfast started in the restaurant at 6 a.m. I think it was way past 6 a.m. The sun was bright and it was getting hot. I think it was about 9:00 a.m. I took a photo of an old pickup truck before going into the restaurant. The time stamp of the photo will remind me of the time. I had the breakfast buffet. The food was very good and the waitress, a young woman was a great waitress. She kept me in coffee and I felt very comfortable enjoying my time at my table not rushed and not an imposition on anyone's time or space. Sunday's ride was to the Travel Inn & Suites in Emporia, KS. When I checked in the manager was a young man who turned out to be the owner of the motel now for 1 month. His mother gave me a courtesy gift of chips and bottled water. I could not have been treated more warmly by this man and his family. I grabbed dinner of chocolate ice cream and popcorn chicken at the convenience store next door and proceeded to sleep. At some point I ran all the wires to charge up the bike and gadgets. In the morning, Day 39, Monday June 26th I made way for the Country Inn, in Marion, KS. The day went great even though I had to travel some rough gravel "bike trails". I'd rather travel a rough gravel bike trail then some of the smooth roads with some precarious shoulders and/or traffic. The day went well even though I got a flat rear tire. 3 people stopped and offered me a ride and or help and I assured all 3 I knew what I was doing, even though I have never changed a flat on a rear tire of an eBike. I was confident, but maybe would not have been to the extent I was if I knew some of the idiosyncrasies of an eBike rear tire change. I managed but was exhausted by the time I arrived to the Country Inn Motel in Marion, KS late that night. I spent the day recovering the following day. I rested and made a run to a local hardware store to find a night backup riding light and 3 bolts discovered missing while changing the tire. I knew about 2 of them already, but it was time to get replacement bolts... I stayed an extra day at the Country Inn. I think I may have been overexposed to the heat on Monday. Tuesday Day 40, June 27th, I got parts at the hardware store and slept. Today, Day 41, Wednesday June 28th I installed 2 of the missing bolts early in the morning and finished my laundry. I am currently 20 miles from the Coratel Inn & Suites in Park City - Wichita North. All batteries are charged and I "expect" an easy night ride. The plan is to go to a Trek Bike dealer in Wichita tomorrow and get 2 innertubes. Need to post pictures and comment more on the travels planned for the rest of Kansas and beyond. As of Marion, KS I have completed 1/2 of the trip.